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Rock ptarmigans (Lagopus muta) are gallinaceous birds inhabiting arctic and sub-arctic environments. Their diet varies by season, including plants or plant parts of high nutritional value, but also toxic plant secondary metabolites (PSMs). Little is known about the microbes driving organic matter decomposition in the cecum of ptarmigans, especially the last steps leading to methanogenesis. The cecum microbiome in wild rock ptarmigans from Arctic Norway was characterized to unveil their functional potential for PSM detoxification, methanogenesis and polysaccharides degradation. Cecal samples were collected from wild ptarmigans from Svalbard (L. m. hyperborea) and northern Norway (L. m. muta) during autumn/winter (Sept-Dec). Samples from captive Svalbard ptarmigans fed commercial pelleted feed were included to investigate the effect of diet on microbial composition and function. Abundances of methanogens and bacteria were determined by qRT-PCR, while microbial community composition and functional potential were studied using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and shotgun metagenomics. Abundances of bacteria and methanogenic Archaea were higher in wild ptarmigans compared to captive birds. The ceca of wild ptarmigans housed bacterial groups involved in PSM-degradation, and genes mediating the conversion of phenol compounds to pyruvate. Methanomassiliicoccaceae was the major archaeal family in wild ptarmigans, carrying the genes for methanogenesis from methanol. It might be related to increased methanol production from pectin degradation in wild birds due to a diet consisting of primarily fresh pectin-rich plants. Both wild and captive ptarmigans possessed a broad suite of genes for the depolymerization of hemicellulose and non-cellulosic polysaccharides (e.g. starch). In conclusion, there were no physiological and phenotypical dissimilarities in the microbiota found in the cecum of wild ptarmigans on mainland Norway and Svalbard. While substantial differences in the functional potential for PSM degradation and methanogenesis in wild and captive birds seem to be a direct consequence of their dissimilar diets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Six isolates of Trichoderma polysporum-like species isolated from a moss (Sanionia uncinata) in high arctic wetlands at Spitsbergen Island, Svalbard, Norway, were examined for species identification, effects of temperature on growth, pathogenicity to the moss, and polygalacturonase (PGase) activity. All isolates from Spitsbergen were identified as T. polysporum based on morphology, sequences of the rDNA-ITS regions, and growth response to temperature. In addition, two isolates of T. polysporum from Germany and Japan were used. All isolates from Spitsbergen, Germany and Japan infected epidermal tissues of the moss, but did not cause any symptoms in in vitro inoculation tests at 0°C. One of the isolates from Spitsbergen and the German isolate showed high activity of PGase, an enzyme produced by many saprotrophic and pathogenic fungi, in a pectin liquid medium. The enzyme activity was evident for both isolates even at 0°C. The present results document the presence of T. polysporum in the high arctic wetlands. The epidermal infection to the moss and PGase production at 0°C of the T. polysporum isolates suggest that the species likely inhabits a niche as a saprotroph or an endophyte in the arctic environments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]